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Kol Yisrael was originally an underground Haganah radio station that broadcast from Tel Aviv. It started consistently broadcasting in December 1947 under the name Telem-Shamir-Boaz, and was renamed to Kol HaHagana ("Voice of the Haganah") in March 1948. With Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, 1948, it was transformed into the official station Kol Yisrael. Another station named Kol Yisrael operated in Haifa, and was renamed Kol Tzva HaHagana (Voice of the Defense Force).[1]

The first Kol Yisrael transmission was a live broadcast from Tel Aviv of David Ben-Gurion reading of the declaration of independence. It was operated by a department of the Ministry of the Interior responsible for domestic and international broadcasts. Responsibility for the service was later transferred to the Office of Posts and Telegraphs and then to the Prime Minister's Office.

Kol Yisrael pioneered the use of FM transmission. In the early years, stations were operated in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa.[2] The PBS had had its transmitter in Ramallah, but this transmitter was lost to Kol Israel due to Ramallah being in the Arab sector and under Jordanian governance.

In March 1950, international broadcasting was begun under the name Kol Zion La Golah ("The Voice of Zion to the Diaspora.") The broadcasts were produced at Kol Yisrael by the World Zionist Organization in cooperation with the Jewish Agency. In 1958, the international service was merged with the domestic broadcaster, with both services operating under the Kol Israel name.

In 1965, the Israel Broadcasting Authority, an independent public entity, was created and took over responsibility for Kol Yisrael from the Prime Minister's office. In 1973, the IBA adopted the name Shidurei Yisrael (Israel Broadcasting) for the service's domestic radio and television services. The name Kol Yisrael was revived for the domestic and international radio service in 1979.

A previous station named Kol Yisrael had briefly been operated by the Haganah in 1940 on the 42-meter band. However, the station was soon renamed when the Haganah decided that the Kol Yisrael name should be reserved until independence.

Israel Radio Persian-language broadcasting

Besides meaning "voice of Israel", Kol Yisrael is also a wordplay which in Hebrew sounds like the phrase "all of Israel" (although spelled differently).

An internet radio station has been launched in 2014 under the confusing name of "Voice of Israel". This station is not connected to the official "Kol Yisrael" run by Israel Radio International. Unlike the very similarly-named public radio station, the private "Voice of Israel" station under Bureau Chief Daniel Seaman, a former media official ousted for extreme online remarks, has a political agenda, which is quite different from that of the official "Kol Yisrael" station. Kol Yisrael's programs are under very strict guidelines which require that news and comments are offered in a balanced, mainstream and representative way, and that each interviewee and commentator is introduced by clearly stating his political leanings; that is not the case with "Voice of Israel".

Kol Yisrael's Arabic and Persian-language services have broadcast extensively to Arab countries and Iran for decades. As of April 1, 2008, only Persian to Iran is broadcast on shortwave, using leased airtime from Bezeq transmitters. The transmissions in Persian are occasionally jammed. Broadcasts to Arab countries are not jammed, apparently to avoid retaliatory jamming of their broadcasts to Israel. Kol Yisrael's Persian-language service is reportedly popular in Iran.[4]

There are also educational stations broadcasting via low-power transmitters from colleges and universities across Israel under the collective banner of Tachana Chinuchit.

Israel Radio International, also known as Reshet Hei ("Network E") (formerly known as Kol Zion Lagola), is a shell of what it used to be. As of July 29, 2007, the only program created for Israel Radio International, is Persian. The rest of the network is a direct relay of the REKA network.

As of April 1, 2008, the only shortwave broadcast left of Israel Radio International is Persian. To listen to all other languages, including English, users are pointed to the new official Israel Radio International website. Transmission was shifted from shortwave to internet as a cost-saving measure. As of June 13, 2013, Persian is no longer broadcast on shortwave.

All of Kol Israel's stations are available worldwide through streaming audio over the Internet. Both live broadcasts as well as archived programs are available to listeners.